The Impossible

[Jayman]

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1649419/

This was one of the most brutally excruciating movies I've ever had the misfortune of sitting through in my life..and that's the highest compliment anybody could p*y this cinematic marvel given that it deals with the nightmarish ordeal that was the 2004 Asian Tsunami. It's harrowingly depicted, sensitively handled and just ... well ... amazing.

Performances across the board are excellent but it must be said, the teenager portraying the Luke character (Tom Holland) stood out for me. If the real Luke is anything like his courageous big screen counterpart then I am quite honestly, nothing but a tiny ant next to him.

Overall, a great movie. Not flawless by any means but an extremely worthy and classy depiction.

And walking out of the half-filled Empire, all I could hear were sniffles from males and female audience members alike.

[canadian_turtle]

At times this film was hard to watch because it was gory and heart-wrenching and felt very realistically catastrophical. Yes, this is based on a true story but that doesn't necessarily mean that this film would end up feeling and looking as real as it did.

There were a few moments where I felt it was a bit too cheesy or over the top (the overlong and predictable scene with various members in/near the hospital, and a surgery dream sequence I could've done without for instance) but overall this wasn't a film with big Hollywood moments and instead it focussed on the family members central to the story and thrived on the extra-ordinary performances of the actors (indeed Lucas and Thomas were particularly phenomenal).

It was a tough film to sit through but a story that deserved telling and a rewarding experience for the audience. When it was finished I thought to myself that this is only one story of several hundred thousand related to the 2004 disaster, which makes it all the more heart-breaking.

8.5/10 (really good, but not one for repeat viewing)

P.S. Bring tissues.

[Jayman]

The one very confusing issue I had was that they felt the need to change the race of the Spanish family to Caucasian, especially since the director is a Spaniard himself (and I hear personal friends with the actual family). As brilliant as the performances were, it could have, in my humble opinion, retained 100% authenticity with a Spanish cast delivering the lines in a native vernacular.

[canadian_turtle]

You're probably right, but unfortunately many native English speakers complain when a film is subtitled and/or avoid it as they can "read and watch at the same time". As someone brought up on foreign films this is not something I agree with, but it is a sentiment I've heard a lot. So I guess if they wanted this to be for American (etc) audiences they felt they had no choice but to film it in English.

[Jayman]

Also, and I find this hilarious, this movie is PG-13....and Intouchables is R-Rated.



The f**k are those guys smoking?

[canadian_turtle]

PG-13, are you kidding me?!?! I spent most of the gory/intense scenes hiding behind my hands and Im more than twice the age they rated it O_O

[Jayman]

Even I found it hard to watch at times, and I have a cast iron stomach.
Maybe the rating will be updated closer to the official release date.

Check it out: http://parentpreviews.com/movie-reviews/the-impossible
In the UK it's 12A: http://www.bbfc.co.uk/AFF295440/

[tsoiboy]

Saw this tonight at Empire which was about 2/3 full.

I was expecting a Hollywood disaster film which would all end happily for everyone. How wrong I was.

The film starts with a short introduction in setting the scene and then Bang it goes straight into the Tsunami. A real roller coaster of a scene that has a massive impact showing the power and devastation. Conveying it as realistic as it can be. I am sure the real thing would be even more terrifying but the scene here scared the bejesus out of me. From here it focuses on the Tsunami with Maria ( Naomi Watts) and Lucas ( Tom Holland) on surviving the impact, finding each other and getting to safety. It was here that highlighted the maturity of Lucas's character as being pragmatic whilst Maria striving to do the right thing even if it cost them their lives. Again brutal, realistic, gory and quite unashamedly honest.

Then the film switches to Henry ( Ewan McGregor) and the other two sons on the search for Maria and Lucas and the hard decisions and the sacrifices to be made. I was quite glad the film switched tone here as I don't think I could have watched the same Tsunami events on the other half of the family. It is this part that has the emotional scenes though predictable but quite necessary. It showed the best of humanity and touched very lightly on the worst especially with the telephone scene the difference between the European and American mentality. It is also here that you know what is going to happen in the hospital scene with all the near misses. Hey this can really happen.

The end of the film was not a Hollywood ending. Everyone was damaged in some way as the thoughts of the survivors dwelt on those who didn't make it and to the other survivors with the loss they must be feeling. This emphasized how unbelievably lucky their family was.

All the performances were excellent. It was realistic, sympathetic, harrowing enough for me and not over sentimental. At one point I swear I could hear a pin drop and there were plenty of sniffles.

9/10

Not for the faint hearted.

[jeanelle]

An excellent summation and review from tsoiboy but I'm afraid I'm one of the faint hearted and found the blood and gore a bit too much. Amazing depiction of the tsunami itself and the aftermath. Excellent performances from the children. Glad I had the opportunity to see it but would really only recommend to horror fans.

[Jayman]

Juan Antonio Bayona is a well established horror veteran having helmed the uber creepy The Orphanage but I don't think this should ever be categorized as a flick merely for horror movie junkies. ie. The gore depicted isn't for entertainment purposes. Quite the opposite, in fact. To depict this event as anything but terrifying would’ve been outright disrespectful to the victims of the catastrophe. If you walked out of this feeling as if you’d been assaulted then I’d say the movie had done its job.